JPMorgan Chase (JPM) shares came under pressure this week after CEO Jamie Dimon raised the bank’s 2026 expense outlook at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in New York.
Dimon told investors that full-year costs are now likely to land closer to $106 billion than the $105 billion guidance issued just last month, with the increase tied to stronger business activity across the firm.
For a bank delivering consistently strong results, any signal that costs are rising faster than expected immediately invites scrutiny over future profitability.
Shares fell almost 3% on Wednesday before some of the selling eased, leaving JPM down around 7% since the start of the year.
Dimon was not without good news on the revenue side, saying investment banking fees are expected to climb 10% or more in the second quarter, with a busy pipeline of large deals reflecting stronger corporate confidence and growing boardroom appetite for transactions.
The markets business, covering trading, is meanwhile on track to grow around 11% this quarter and could beat that figure.
He described the current mood among the bank’s clients as broadly upbeat, though added a note of caution, warning that similar periods of exuberance in 1972, 1986, 2000 and 2007 had not ended well.
The other headline from Dimon’s appearance was his signal that JPMorgan is actively scouting for acquisitions, telling the audience the bank could put between $10 billion and $20 billion to work on a deal in the next couple of years and that the bank is “on the lookout.”
A deal at that scale would be the largest of his 20-year tenure and would immediately test regulators’ appetite for further consolidation among the biggest US banks.
JPMorgan is already prohibited by US law from buying another deposit-taking bank, having crossed 10% of the country’s deposits – it was granted a government exemption when it acquired First Republic in 2023.
Any target would most likely fall in fintech, payments, or wealth management, areas where the bank has been directing a $19.8 billion technology budget alongside continued investment in AI and blockchain infrastructure.
Dimon was careful to frame dealmaking as a last resort rather than a growth strategy, dismissing executives who reach for M&A when organic growth falters, and made clear JPMorgan will only move when the strategic fit is right.
